A wrestling mat becomes a cage for a man fighting the only opponent he can't pin: himself.
In the aftermath of a devastating rumor, Iman and his family have been forced to flee Iran. As refugees, they end up in a run-down hotel in northern Sweden. Despite feeling powerless, Iman tries to maintain his role as the family patriarch. To increase their chances of asylum, he breaks a promise to his wife and joins the local wrestling club. As the rumors start to resurface, Iman’s fear and desperation begin to take a hold.
Acting
Payman Maadi's physicality speaks what Iman cannot say.
Direction
Alami shoots Sweden like purgatory—gray, endless, watching.
Sound
The wrestling gym's silence hits harder than any score.
Director
Milad Alami
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Alami cast actual asylum seekers in background roles; the hotel was a real refugee housing facility. The limbo you feel is documented reality.
The wrestling motif isn't metaphor—Alami's father was a wrestler, and the sport's intimate physicality becomes Iman's torture: touch he craves, framed as combat he must deny.
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